Maurice Sendak, RIP

When Cousin Fiend was a sleepless baby we'd go over to their place once a week and make dinner, help clean up and generally distract Fiend so Auntie Burl could relax a little and enjoy some adult conversation.  There was a time when all Fiend wanted was to sit in my lap in the brown recliner endlessly reading this book together.  I did the heavy lifting, then she'd shout/laugh the chorus.

Me:  Happy once.....happy twice....
Fiend:  HAPPY CHIKASOUPWIRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE!!!


I didn't fully appreciate his genius until Fuss came along- the paucity of genuinely impressive children's books is thrown into sharp relief when you plow through five or six of them a night.  Wild Things is a work of literary genius, but I think my favorite is In the Night Kitchen.



RIP